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Volume 2 Issue 43, April 22, 2022 View as Webpage
Normalizing Nuclear War and Predicting Global Food Shortages
By Food Not Bombs co-founder KEITH MCHENRY

< Photo of my grandfather and me on Easter Sunday at my parent's home in Yorktown, Virginia 1959.


I wake with a feeling of unease nearly every morning these days as the world inches closer to the unthinkable.

Unlike many people I know I am personally very familiar with just how those advocating the use of nuclear weapons and the predictions of starvation think. No amount of death in pursuit of their goals is too gruesome to implement. That is why I wake in horror.

“You have to drop a nuclear bomb on Hanoi,” my mother’s father yelled into the receiver as he spun around his Needham, Massachusetts den surrounded by the 63 framed photos he took of the firebombing of Tokyo he snapped from a B29 flying at 20,000 feet above the smoldering death.

I watched him spend one afternoon after another pacing around his office in heated debates over the phone with his World War II friends, Curtis LeMay and Robert McNamara, demanding that the US drop a nuclear bomb on Hanoi to teach the communists that capitalism is boss.

He knew LeMay and McNamara from his days working in the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency, when he was directing Operation Meeting House from Burma. He let me know he had killed as many as a million Japanese civilians. He called this “a white man’s burden” that I would also have to “endure” when I came of age.

What first got my intention about preparations for a possible nuclear war was the Facebook posts in early February 2022 by Homeland Security. They said:

Nuclear Explosion

Nuclear explosions can cause significant damage and casualties from
blast, heat, and radiation but you can keep your family safe by knowing
what to do and being prepared if it occurs.

A nuclear weapon is a device that uses a nuclear reaction to create an
explosion.

Nuclear devices range from a small portable device carried by an
individual to a weapon carried by a missile.

A nuclear explosion may occur with or without a few minutes warning.

Fallout is most dangerous in the first few hours after the detonation
when it is giving off the highest levels of radiation. It takes time for
fallout to arrive back to ground level, often more than 15 minutes for
areas outside of the immediate blast damage zones. This is enough
time for you to be able to prevent significant radiation exposure by
following these simple steps:

GET INSIDE, STAY INSIDE, STAY TUNED and Prepare NOW."

Not a word about a nuclear war ending human life in the northern hemisphere.

Several weeks later the western media reported that President Vladimir Putin had ordered his military to put Russia's nuclear deterrence forces on high alert.

The call for a direct conflict and a suggestion the US could and should use nuclear weapons against Russia was outlined in the long rambling essay, “The Price of Hegemony - Can America Learn to Use Its Power?”’ by Robert Kagan in the May 2022 issue of Foreign Affairs outlining the rationale for going to war with Russia. His wife is Victoria Nuland, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and the director of the US war effort in Ukraine.

Kagan writes, “It is better for the United States to risk confrontation with belligerent powers when they are in the early stages of ambition and expansion, not after they have already consolidated substantial gains. Russia may possess a fearful nuclear arsenal, but the risk of Moscow using it is not higher now than it would have been in 2008 or 2014, if the West had intervened then.”

In an intercepted phone conversation between Kagan’s wife, then Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and the US Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, published before the violent coup that installed Yatseniuk as president:

Nuland: Good. I don't think Klitsch should go into the government. I don't
think it's necessary, I don't think it's a good idea."

Pyatt: I think Yats is the guy who's got the economic experience, the
governing experience. He's the... what he needs is Klitsch and
Tyahnybok on the outside. He needs to be talking to them four times a
week, you know. I just think Klitsch going in... he's going to be at that level
working for Yatseniuk, it's just not going to work.

Nuland: So on that piece Geoff, when I wrote the note [US
vice-president's national security adviser Jake] Sullivan's come
back to me VFR [direct to me], saying you need [US Vice-President
Joe] Biden and I said probably tomorrow for an atta-boy and to get the
deets [details] to stick. So Biden's willing.

Pyatt: OK. Great. Thanks.

Biden, Sullivan and Nuland are still running the Ukrainian war against Russia and now their administration is floating the idea that we can survive a nuclear conflict and that we may need to strike first.

"Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they've faced so far militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low yield nuclear weapons," US CIA Director Bill Burns said in public remarks at Georgia Tech on April 14, 2022.

A day later CNN airs an interview with Ukrainian President Zelensky writing that, “all of the countries of the world” should be prepared for the possibility that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use tactical nuclear weapons in his war on Ukraine.

And if normalizing nuclear war isn’t frightening enough we now have to worry about hunger. “We did talk about food shortages and it’s going to be real", Biden said at a news conference in Brussels during the meeting of the G-7. "The price of the sanctions is not just imposed upon Russia. It’s imposed upon an awful lot of countries as well, including European countries and our country as well.”

And Locally...

Santa Cruz Food Not Bombs is already experiencing both an increase in people joining us for our daily meal and a reduction in food donations that Second Harvest Food Bank and local groceries report is due to supply chain disruptions.

Even before the war in Ukraine, food banks were warning of an increase in hunger. In January CNN aired a story called “Hunger in America could get worse as supply chains tighten”.

Two weeks later the Washington Post published a story “An invasion of Ukraine could drive up global food prices and spark unrest far from the front lines.”

“Should peace not prevail, western-gazing Ukrainians would pay the highest price. But in a worst-case scenario, the cost of a major Russian invasion of Ukraine — one of the world’s largest grain exporters — could ripple across the globe, driving up already surging food prices and increasing the risk of social unrest well beyond Eastern Europe.”

So peace did not prevail and food costs were already increasing to the point that many American families are suffering.

This is of course the perfect time for the City of Santa Cruz to pass an ordinance restricting protest against war, poverty and the sharing of food.

The more restrictive changes added to the Santa Cruz Municipal Code Chapter 10.65 ordinance regulating Public Gathering and Expression Events passed at a Zoom City Council meeting on April 14, 2022 include:

Which will C) Will result in the placement of structures or objects on streets or, sidewalks, or other pedestrian walkways exceeding twelve square feet in size or six feet in height; and/or(e) Which in may result in donations for nonprofit organizations; and/orD) Is conducted on a regularly scheduled basis at a single location for more than two consecutive days per week.

(f) It shall be a misdemeanor for a public gathering and expression event participant to fail or refuse to comply with a revocation order made pursuant to Section 10.65.240, 10.65.270, or 10.65.280.(g) Any violation of this Chapter, in addition to the penalties set forth in this section, is hereby declared a public nuisance and may be abated by any method authorized under Title 4 of this Code including, but not limited to, by civil injunction in accordance with Section 4.04.020.

The US plans to spend $34.4 billion to modernizing its nuclear warfare capability according to the US Defense Department's 2023 budget or approximately the cost that the US Housing and Urban Development claims would house all of America’s homeless.

This is that moment when the four decades long campaign by Food Not Bombs must have an impact on the policies of governments that have until now made a priority of war over the security of food, housing and other domestic needs.

I can understand how difficult it is to contemplate the dark future that the Biden administration has set out before us but we must if we have any hope of survival. These monsters in power are willing to use nuclear weapons and that is why they are promoting the illusion that we can survive it while providing the justification for a preemptive first strike.

They are also willing to starve billions of people including those of us here in the United States that they have long perceived as “useless eaters”.

It is time we unite and force the redirection of our national resources from the military to food, housing, education, healthcare and other social services. Exactly the demands that caused the FBI - Joint Terrorism Task Force to declare Food Not Bombs a “credible national security threat” on August 29, 1988.
Workers' Memorial Day
By SARAH RINGLER


< Reel Work Graphics by TONI BAUER



April 28 is International Workers' Memorial Day recognized as a national day to honor and remember working people who have died or become sick from work not only in the US but in 17 other countries around the world. It also commemorates the day the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 went into effect.

Two years into the pandemic, essential workers continue to risk their lives. Many got sick or died just going to work for simply doing what they had to do to support their families. They were healthcare workers, grocery workers, meatpackers, nurses, delivery drivers, farmworkers, law enforcement officers, teachers, flight attendants, pilots, sanitation workers, bus drivers and more.

This week's Reel Work Labor Film Festival honors these workers with four films under the theme "Work Can Kill." Click on the green film titles to watch the films as your leisure from Apr. 20-26.

The first film, "Boramey - Ghost in a Factory" is about some workers in a sweatshop in Cambodia who suddenly faint and become too sick to work. Many in the community believe it's spirits, but could it be the long hours and unairconditioned factories in a tropical country?

"Class Action" is a frustrating film that follows a meeting between teachers who had just lost a colleague to suicide, and school administrators who are trying to underplay the tragedy.

One of the most inhumane working environments on earth is portrayed in "Drillship Walkthrough," Shell Oil Company's 2011 Arctic Ocean mobile drill barge "Kulluk," that drifted aground after a storm and was finally sent to scrap in 2014.

You probably have driven past it many times and some of you might have family that worked there. "The People's History of Cement" chronicles the history of Davenport Cement Plant from its beginning as a critical supplier of building material to its later demise in 2010.

Join the international filmmakers for an online Zoom panel discussion Apr. 26 at 7pm. Log in here.

To see all of this year's films, go to the Reel Works website. Serf City Times will highlight each week's presentation.
Nancy Russell will be showing her art, including her two "Artichoke Queen" paintings, over the weekend of Apr. 30-May 1 at 421 Gharkey St., SC.
Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Poised on a chunk of granite, notice the dramatic metallic gold and black coloring of this European starling
Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report
By SARAH RINGLER

The Santa Cruz County Health Department regularly releases data on the current status of Covid-19 in the county. Total known cases as of April 21 were 48391, up 349 cases from last week's 48,042, rounding off to a 1% rise. One person died of covid this last week.

The government is issuing four free Antigen Rapid Tests for free here.

Because of all the home tests currently available, these numbers are underestimates according to Corinne Hyland, County Health Services Agency spokesperson. She recommends people with minor symptoms stay home, isolate and rest.

Hospitalizations have not changed since March 10. Click to view a graph of hospitalizations here.

There have been changes in the last week in the active cases. Active cases in south county increased by 4%, north county decreased by 3% and mid county decreased by 1%. See details in the chart below.

On the county's vaccination webpage, the vaccination rate increased by 1% in both categories the first time since Feb. 6; 81% of the county have had at least one dose and 75% have had two doses. Here are more details on the county's vaccination data

This webpage also has a link where you can get a digital copy and scannable QR code of your vaccination record. Keep track of your four digit code because that is your access to the site.

The county's Effective Reproductive Number is now above one. See chart below. Numbers above one show the spread of the virus is increasing. Below one means the spread is decreasing.

To get information of COVID-19 testing locations around the county visit this site. Click here to make an appointment to get tested.

Any Californian age 12 or up can get vaccinated for free. For information on getting vaccinated, click here.
% deaths by ethnicity:
White - 57% 
Latinx - 34%
Black - 1% 
Asian - 6%
American Native - 0%
Unknown - 0%

% deaths by gender/% of population:
Female - 49%/50% 
Male - 51%/50% 

Deaths by age/259:
25-34 - 2%
35-44 - 3%
45-54 - 4%
55-59 - 2%
60-64 - 6%
65-74 - 18%
75-84 - 24%
85+ - 43%

% active cases testing positive by region/% of population:
Mid-county - 12%/12% 
North county - 63%/56% 
South county - 25%/32% 
Under investigation - 2%

Deaths by vaccination status: 
vaccinated - 28/260 = 11%
unvaccinated - 232/260 = 89%
 
Weekly increases in positive tests: 
June 12-19, 2020 - 7% 
June 19-26 - 23%
June 26 to July 3 - 22%
July 3-9 - 23%
July 9-16 - 40%
July 16-23 - 20%
July 23-30 - 27%
July 30-Aug. 6 - 13%
Aug. 6-13- 12%
Aug.14-20 - 16%
Aug.20-28 - 10%
Aug. 28-Sept. 3 - 10%
Sept. 3-10 - 6%
Sept. 10-17- 8% 
Sept. 17-24 - 7%
Sept. 25- Oct.1 - 5%
Oct. 1 - 9 - 4%
Oct. 9-15 - 4%
Oct. 15-22 - 5%
Oct. 23-29 - 4%
Oct. 30-Nov. 5 - 6%
Nov. 5-12 - 10%
Nov. 12-19 - 11%
Nov. 19-26 - holiday
Nov. 19-Dec. 3 - 29% 2 weeks of data for this week only
Dec. 3-10 - 16%
Dec. 10-17 - 17%
Dec. 17-24 - 14%
Dec. 24-31 - 19%
Jan. 1-7, 2021 - 13%
Jan. 7-14 - 14%
Jan. 15-21 - 11%
Jan. 21-28 - 5%
Jan. 28-Feb. 4 - 5%
Feb. 5-11 - 2%
Feb. 11-18 - 2%
Feb. 18-25 - 1%
Feb. 25-March 5 - 1%
March 5-11 - 1%
March 11-18 - 2%
March 18-25 - .5%
March 25 - Apr. 1 - .7%
Apr. 1-8 - 0.1%
Apr. 9-15 - 1%
Apr. 16-22 - 2%
Apr. 22-30 - 2%
Apr. 30 - May 6 - .3%
May 6-13 - 2%
May 13-20 - 0%
May 24 - Data readjustment by county means percentages cannot be calculated this week.
May 27 - June 3 - 0%
June 3-10 - 0%
June 11-17 - .25%
June 18-24 - 0%
June 25-July 1 - 0%
July 2-8 - .3%
July 9-15 - .2%
July 16-22 - .5%
July 23-29 - 1.2%
July 30-Aug. 5 - 2%
Aug. 6-12 - .7%
Aug.13-19 - 4%
Aug. 20-26 - .7%
Aug. 26-Sept. 2 - 3%
Sept. 2-9 - 2%
Sept. 10-16 - 1%
Sept. 17-22 - 1%
Sept. 23-30 - 2%
Oct. 1-7 - 0%
Oct. 8-14 - 1%
Oct. 15-21 - 1%
Oct. 22-28 - 1%
Oct. 29-Nov. 4 - 1%
Nov. 5-11 - 1%
Nov. 12-18 - 2%
Nov. 19 - Dec. 2 - 2 weeks 2%
Dec. 2-9 - 2%
Dec. 9-16 - 1%
Dec. 16-23 - 1%
Dec. 24-30 - 2%
Dec. 31 - Jan. 6, 2022 - 5% Growth of home tests underestimates cases below. See above .
Jan. 7-13 - 9%
Jan. 14-20 - 15%
Jan. 21-27 - 9%
Jan. 28 - Feb. 3 - 31%
Feb. 3-10 - 3%
Feb. 11-24 (2 weeks) - 5%
Feb. 25- March 3 - 1%
March 4-10 - 1%
March 11-17 - 1%
March 18-24 - 0%
March 25-31 - 1%
Apr. 1-7 - 0%
Apr. 8-14 - 1%
Apr. 15-21 - 1%
Photo by TARMO HANNULA 
Fashion Street - Watsonville Plaza, a beautiful place to sit down and enjoy a taco from La Fuente or one of the famous Kong's Burgers from across the street in Plaza Vigil.
Labor History Calendar for April 22-, 2022

April 22, 1526: First American Slave Revolt.
April 22, 2010: Thousands demand that Arizona Governor Jan Brewer veto a vicious anti-immigrant bill, but she signs it anyways.
April 23, 1912: British labor paper, Daily Herald founded.
April 23, 1980: Death of Ida Mae Stull, first woman coal miner.
April 24, 1913: 80 IWWs arrested in Denver free speech fight.
April 24, 1916: Irish Easter Rebellion.
April 24, 1999: IWLU halts West Coast shipping in with frame-up victim, Mumia Abu-Jamal.
April 24, 2013: 1,129 killed in Bangladesh factory collapse.
April 25, 1923: IWW Marine Transport Workers begin West Coast strike.
April 25, 1969: Ralph Abernathy and 100 others arrested for picketing Charleston, SC hospital to support unionization.
April 26, 1937: Basque town of Guernica destroyed by German bombing in Spanish Civil War.
April 26, 2018: Arizona teachers strike to funding cuts and low pay.
April 27, 1825: First strike for 10-hour day by Boston carpenters.
April 27, 1998: Danish general strike for six week paid vacations.
April 27, 2018: Colorado teachers join national strike wave against inadequate school funding.
April 28 Workers' Memorial Day
April 28, 1997: Nike shoe workers protest and win wage hike in Indonesia.
April 28, 1998: Danish General Strike for shorter hours begins.
April 28, 2021: Massive strikes against austerity met with police gunfire - at least 10 workers killed in Columbia.

Labor History Calendar has been published yearly by the Hungarian Literature Fund since 1985.
"White Too Long"

"White Too Long"(2020, Simon & Schuster), written by Robert P. Jones, uses this quote by James Baldwin from a 1968 op-ed in New York Times that was written after the assassinations of MLK, and Bobby Kennedy and violent protests in 120 cities, as an inspiration for his research and book:

”I will flatly say that the bulk of this country’s white population impresses me, and has so impressed me for a very long time, as being beyond any conceivable hope of moral rehabilitation. They have been white, if I may put it, too long; they have been married to the lie of white supremacy too long; the effect on their personalities, their lives, their grasp of reality, has been as devastation as the lava which so memorably immobilized the citizens of Pompeii. They are unable to conceive that their version of reality, which they want me to accept, is an insult to my history and a parody of theirs and an intolerable violation of myself.”

Pg. 186 “This chapter demonstrates - with rigorous quantitative evidence- a disturbing fact: that Frederick Douglass’s nearly two-hundred-year-old observations about the positive correlation between white supremacy and Christianity continue to be supported by the contemporary evidence. Not only in the South, higher levels of racism are associated with higher probability of identifying as a white Christian; and, conversely, adding Christianity to the average white person’s identity moves him or her toward more, not less, affinity for white supremacy. White supremacy lives on today not just in explicitly and consciously held attitudes among white Christians; it has become deeply integrated into the DNA of white Christianity itself. 

The last statement, standing alone, sounds shocking. But an honest look at the historical arc of white Christianity in America suggests that we should instead be astonished if it were otherwise. For centuries, through colonial American and into the latter part of the twentieth century, white Christians have literally built – architecturally, culturally and theologically - white supremacy into an American Christianity that held an a priori commitment to slavery and segregation. At key potential turning point moments such as the Civil War and the civil rights movement, white Christians, for the most part, did not fail to evict this sinister presence; history confirms that they continued to aid and abet it. The weight of this legacy is indeed overwhelming. But the next chapter shows, there are at least some white Christians are facing the reality of this history and have taken a few steps along a new path toward repentance and repair.
Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Jan's Oatmeal Cake
By SARAH RINGLER                            

Don’t let the name Oatmeal Cake make you think that this is some bland health food substitute cake that is going to taste like slightly sweetened cardboard. This cake is a knockout. I would put it up against most desserts. The broiled coconut and walnut frosting form a sweet brittle roof over the moist and spicy cake. This cake also keeps well for several days if it’s not eaten first. 

I have to thank my former neighbor Jan McGeorge for the recipe. She brought it over one evening as her contribution to a dinner we were sharing. 

Of the cereal grains like wheat, rye and barley, oats tolerate cooler and rainier weather. This had made them a common part of Northwest European cooking. Oat crackers, bread and cereal are part of the Scotch, Irish and English diet. It’s generally considered a healthy food because of its fiber and cholesterol lowering properties.

Oats have a hard hull that has to be removed before the grain can be eaten. The grain, or groat, can be cooked and eaten, or it can be rolled out. Rolled oats cook faster and add texture and flavor to baked goods as in this recipe. 

You can double this recipe and baked it in a 9 by 13-inch pan. 

½ cup rolled oats 
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 egg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup white flour

Frosting:
½ cup brown sugar
½ cube butter
1 tablespoon milk
½ cup chopped nuts
¼ cup sweetened coconut flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil about a cup of water and measure the rolled oats into a small bowl. When the water boils, carefully measure it out and pour over the oats. Let sit. Butter an 8-inch by 8-inch square pan. 

Sift the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugars in a mixing bowl. It will not be too creamy. Add the eggs and beat until smooth.

Alternate adding first a bit of the flour and then the oatmeal to the sugar-butter-egg mixture. End with the flour. Do not over mix but the batter should have no lumps or unblended flour. 

Pour the batter into the buttered pan and bake for about 30 minutes. The cake is done when you can stick a toothpick in the middle and it comes out dry. The sides of the cake should also be slightly pulling away from the sides of the pan.

About 15 minutes into the cake baking, you can start making the frosting. Combine the butter, brown sugar and the milk in a small saucepan. Over medium heat, bring to a soft boil and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat when done. Chop the nuts and stir into the cooked mixture with the coconut. 

When the cake comes out of the oven, let it sit for no more than 10 minutes. It has to be warm. Spread the frosting over the cake. Broil under for about 3-4 minutes until the topping is golden. Serve. 
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Thanks, Sarah Ringler
Welcome to Serf City Times Over time, our county has grown more stratified and divided with many people feeling left out. Housing affordability, racism and low wages are the most obvious factors. However, many groups and individuals in Santa Cruz County work tirelessly to make our county a better place for everyone. These people work on the environment, housing, economic justice, health, criminal justice, disability rights, immigrant rights, racial justice, transportation, workers’ rights, education reform, gender issues, equity issues, electoral politics and more. Often, one group doesn’t know what another is doing. The Serf City Times is dedicated to serving as a clearinghouse for those issues by letting you know what is going on, what actions you can take and how you can support these groups.This is a self-funded enterprise and all work is volunteer. 
Copyright © 2022 Sarah Ringler - All rights reserved